So, hop on your bike and tour the seaside cycling trails and countryside backroads of our fantastic peninsula; here’s a brief guide of some key places to visit:

Lochside Trail
The Lochside Trail is a 30 km trail linking downtown Victoria and Sidney, British Columbia. The trail is flat (it follows the old tramline right-of-way) and safe for cyclists of all ages and abilities, and is a quick connection the BC Ferries terminal at Swartz Bay with downtown Victoria.

Visit Russ Hay’s Sidney CyclesRuss Hay’s Sidney bike shop is perfectly located for emergency repairs, just off the Lochside Trail on the way into the city or out to Swartz Bay. And they have great bikes to check out!

Get a coffee
Cycling is powered by coffee grounds, and luckily Beacon Avenue is lined with busy coffee shops, 6 in total. However, good coffee shops can be found all over the Saanich Peninsula. Deep Cove and the northwest tip of the Peninsula is home to an excellent coffee shop, while there are at least two coffee shops on East Saanich and West Saanich Road on the way into Brentwood Bay.

Grab farm produce
Summer is tasty on the Peninsula because every weekend local farms produce something new to eat, and many of these farms sell “gate to plate” at roadside markets that are a perfect stop for cyclists.

Stay the night
While it takes a little over an hour to bike into Victoria from Sidney via the most direct route, sometimes cyclists arrive at Swartz Bay on a later ferry – it’s good to find a nice place to spend the night and get off the road. Luckily there are plenty of campgrounds on the Peninsula – the Beachcomber RV Park and the Oceanside campground are both close to Lochside Trail, and are right on the water.

Have any more cycling suggestions for the Saanich Peninsula or Sidney information? Let us know!